First Use Belasco as Bait, Then Spider-Man

The bait Strange had brought was not limited to Wanda and Elsa. Wanda's Chaos Magic was something Chthon was interested in, while the Bloodstone from Earth-616 was key to whether Chthon could descend upon Earth-616. And there was Illyana's ability to teleport to Earth-616.

Those three were all things Belasco cared about, bait capable of luring him in.

But was Strange really only planning to deal with Belasco?

How could that be possible!

Long before the Dark Consortium appeared, Strange had planned everything out. If Belasco intended to summon Chthon in Hell's Border, then to ensure Chthon was willing to come, Strange had prepared not only Chaos Magic, but even the Darkhold.

He had even dragged Mephisto into the plan. Unfortunately, whether Mephisto had learned of it beforehand or not, he had already fled overnight. Otherwise, once Belasco summoned Chthon, Mephisto would have had to fight alongside them against that enormous multiversal demon god.

That was right. This was the ultimate plan behind Strange gathering the Midnight Sons and keeping Peter in the dark: he intended to drag Chthon down, but only a small part of him, then completely cut that part off.

One Belasco was nowhere near enough to satisfy the Sorcerer Supreme's appetite.

Illyana felt as though everything had become blurry—before, although she had felt herself losing control, she had still been herself. Her mind had merely been overtaken by a more primal impulse, and many of her actions had simply followed instinct.

But now? Now...

The intense pain left her with a brief bout of amnesia. For the moment, she could not remember what had just happened. She only felt the wind around her surge, then instinctively turned and drew her sword. A tall female demon charged at her with another greatsword, and Illyana barely managed